Beauty parlor appliance



Feb. 27, 1945. M. a MccAR'r BEAUTY PARLOR APPLIANCE Filed Sept. 29. 1942 INVENTOR MARVIN z. CART 6 J Hi5 A'I QRNEY Patented Feb. 27, 1945 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE BEAUTY PARLOR APPLIANCE Marvin E. McCart, San Jose, Calif.

Application September 29, 1942, Serial No. 460,180

v 2 Claims.

My invention relates to devices for use in beauty parlors and particularly to a hair drying apparatus.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of means for entertaining a customer during that period when her head is covered by the bell of a hair dryer, and her hearing more or less interfered with by the enclosure and th hum of the drying fan. 4

My invention possesses other objects and valuable features, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of my invention. It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the showing made by the said description, and the drawing, as I may adopt variant forms of my invention within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a perspective of the apparatus of my invention; and Figure 2 is a detail partly in vertical section of the ear engaging portion thereof.

.After a woman's hair has been washed, or at other times during treatment of the hair when it is desirable to dry it, it is customary to seat her comfortably, and position a drying hell or dryer over the entire scalp. A fan at the rear of the bell then draws the moisture laden air from the bell. Air heating means may also be included in the bell with provision for discharging the heated air around the hair so that evaporation is hastened.

During such treatment, the customers hearing is impaired, partly because the bell overlies the ears, but chiefly because of the hum within the enclosure of the bell, caused by the fan. Between exclusion of external sounds and inclusion of internally produced ones, dryer treatment is not the most attractive period in the process of achieving a beautiful coifiure; and it is the broad purpose of my invention to provide means for alleviating the boresome and tiring features of the drying process.

Music or other entertainment coming from the usual sources is of little help. These sounds are commingled with other sounds originating in the room or street, and reach the customer in the dryer as a more or less confused mixture to which the hum of the fan at the back of her head is an aggravating dissonance.

My invention therefore contemplates two phases, the blotting out or lessening to a toleration point, of external sounds, and the simultaneous provision at a point immediately adjacent and available to the customers ear of acresable sounds such as music or entertaining talk.

This result is accomplished by providing within the bell or head enclosure I of the hair dryer, and at a point on the inside of the wall thereof directly opposite the position of the ear of the occupant, a ring or annulus 2, preferably of soft spongy material such as sponge rubber.

The bell is carried in the usual way upon a standard 3, jointed for adjustability, and fixed upon the back of -a chair of any suitable design. The drying fan and its driving motor are disposed at the rear end of the bell, and are separated from the main chamber thereof by a line mesh screen or grid 4, all of well known construction. The annulus which is shown in diametral section in Figure 2 is preferably formed with an internal flange 5 and an external flange 6 on opposite sides of a short cylindrical section 1, extending from the main body 8 of the annulus, which is preferably of semi-circular section as shown.

The annulus is securely fixed to the wall of the bell by a ring 8 conveniently extended as shown to engage the flange 6 of the annulus. Screws Ii are a simple means for holding the retaining ring in position.

The internal flange 5, together with the main body of the annulus, provides an annular recess within the annulus into which snugly fits the receiver or ear piece I! of a radio or phonograph. The receiver is of well known internal construction and need not be described here, further than to say that the casing thereof may appropriately be of the general character shown to adapt it to fit snugly into the annular recess without contact with the wall of the bell. This is important, since contact would permit the transmission of vibration from the fan through the wall to the casing of the receiver.

The receiver is connected by cable or conduit [3 passing through an aperture H in the bell to anoutlet l5 or other suitable source of the desired entertainment; and a volume control device Ii of well known typ interposed in the connection and clipped to the arm ll. of the chair, provides means for control at an agreeable level of audibility.

When the customer is seated in the chair and the bell adjusted over the head; one ear lies comfortably against the soft annulus. The volume of sound then transmitted to the receiver is adjusted to suit, and it will be found that the music or other sounds emitted dominate the aural impressions received from other sources to such an extent that such other or extraneous sounds fade into the background of conscious reception, or are substantially blocked off.

While the purely mental phenomena of selective reception and exclusion of sounds is probably involved to some extent, and the customer literally sorts out and accepts the desirable sounds while excluding others, the domination by sounds from the receiver is chiefly because the enclosing bell and the annulus permit the direct transmission of audible vibration to one ear, while excluding from both cars a major portion of exterior and undesired vibrations. This of course provides a helpful setting for and facilitates the operation of the selective hearing practiced by most persons more or less unconsciously. With the volume control set at an agreeable and relatively low audibility, it is found that perception of the hum of the fan and motor lessens, such sounds seeming to merge with the sounds coming from the receiver, so that as an end result, the customer may find entertainment and relaxation during an otherwise tiring period.

I claim: 1. An apparatus of the character described,

comprising a bell for loosely enclosing the upper portion of the human head, the bell being sup ported independently of the head and permitting movement of the head within the bell, a soft spongy annulus of sound and electrical insulating material arranged on the inside of the bell in a position to be engaged and disengaged by an ear of the occupant by movement of the head within the bell, and means supported b the annulus out of contact with the bell for emitting sound.

2. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a bell for loosely enclosing the upp r portion of the human head, means for supporting the bell independently of the head, a sponge rubber annulus on the inside of the bell adjacent the position of an ear of the occupant and having an external flange thereon, a retaining ring fixed to the bell over the flange for supporting the annulus, and the receiver of a sound reproducing device disposed within the annulus and supported thereby out of contact with the bell.

MARVIN E. MCCART. 

